Can Labour undo Brexit: What has government said about UK’s relationship with the EU?

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Writing in The Local Europe, foreign secretary David Lammy – who could attend the September meeting of the EU foreign affairs council – added that the new government would “reset relations with Europe as a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a good neighbour.” And Irish prime minister Simon Harris said Brussels would be willing to offer the UK a new deal on post-Brexit issues, suggesting there was “space” to work more closely with Britain as he pledged that Ireland would be an ally in any negotiations. But pressed on free movement of people, Mr Reynolds said: “We’re not open to the free movement of people, that is something that is part of membership of the European Union and, as I said, we’re not revisiting that.” Keir Starmer and David Lammy have spoken of wanting to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU Defence and security While the UK and EU continued to cooperate on security in some respects post-Brexit, a House of Lords committee warned last year of “significant losses in capability”, including lost access to the EU’s largest security database and more than a dozen member states ceasing to extradite suspects to the UK. We will be confident in our status outside of the EU, but a leading nation in Europe once again, with an improved and ambitious relationship with our European partners.” Sir Keir Starmer will fly to Washington this week for a Nato summit Rejoining the single market While the Trade and Co-operation Agreement struck in 2020 has allowed tariff-free trade with the EU, trade barriers are still higher than prior to Brexit – driving up the price of food and other goods, while frequently causing delays at the border. “I’ve been equally clear that I do think we can get a better deal than the botched deal we got under Boris Johnson – on the trading front, on research and development, and on security.” On the issue of trade, Sir Keir suggested in September that a Labour government would seek to remain aligned with EU rules – striking a different tone to proponents of Brexit who hailed the potential for divergence as a key Brexit benefit.